Her form carries the same language as those who came before her - the structured hat, the braids, the gathered collar - but it sits more lightly. Not yet weight. Not yet fully claimed.
She watches more than she speaks. Learns more than she shows. There is a softness in her that has not yet been tested, but a steadiness already beginning to form.
Nothing about her is accidental. She is simply earlier in the story.
Nellie belongs to Her Kind - women at the beginning of their own strength, learning how to hold it.
